Jeffries says Hegseth impeachment is a hard yes

Key Takeaways

The hard yes	House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said on Sunday, Nov. 8, that he would vote to impeach Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth. He called the resolution a hard yes and said Hegseth "has got to go."
Eight articles	Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., read eight articles into the Congressional Record on Tuesday, Sept. 15. He plans to force a vote the week of Nov. 9 unless Hegseth resigns.
Hegseth's reply	On Thursday, Nov. 5, Hegseth called the articles a sham in a video on X. He said the same approach had failed against President Trump.
What a vote takes	The House impeaches by a simple majority. Removal needs two-thirds of senators present. Democrats discuss the resolution on Tuesday, Nov. 10, while Republicans still hold the House.

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) said on Sunday, Nov. 8, that Hegseth impeachment is a hard yes for him. On ABC's "This Week," he accused Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth of abusing his power and said Hegseth "has got to go." House Democrats plan to discuss the resolution on Tuesday, Nov. 10.

Jeffries calls the Hegseth impeachment a hard yes

Jeffries gave the answer to Jonathan Karl on ABC's "This Week." His office posted the interview the same day. Karl said Massie had told him he intends to introduce an impeachment resolution as soon as Monday, Nov. 9, and asked if Democrats would vote for it.

"I'm a hard yes on the Hegseth resolution," Jeffries said. "The so-called secretary of defense has abused his power, undermined our national security, and engineered this reckless and costly war of choice in Iran, which has skyrocketed prices on the American people and made the country less safe. Pete Hegseth has got to go."

Asked if every Democrat would join him, Jeffries gave no count. "We'll certainly have that conversation on Tuesday morning when we reconvene for the first time in Washington, D.C.," he said. "But I believe there will be incredibly strong support for that resolution." Lawmakers are scheduled to return on Monday, Nov. 9, NBC News reported. The meeting he named is Tuesday, Nov. 10.

The Hill carried the same answer on Sunday, Nov. 8, and said it had asked the Pentagon for comment. No reply was in the story. The Hill wrote that Jeffries will likely be speaker in January. Members choose the speaker on Sunday, Jan. 3, 2027, when the new Congress meets.

Democrats won the House and the Senate in the Tuesday, Nov. 3 midterms, Gnosis News reported from the Wednesday, Nov. 4 count. Republicans keep the gavels until Sunday, Jan. 3. A vote before then would be a lame-duck vote in a House they still control.

Jeffries tied higher prices to the war and cited no figure. Central Command told Congress the war cost $47.1 billion as of Friday, Oct. 16, Gnosis News reported, citing the Associated Press. That is a military cost, not a grocery price.

Eight articles Massie already read aloud

Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., read eight articles against Peter Brian Hegseth into the Congressional Record on Tuesday, Sept. 15. Under the rule the chair cited, a privileged resolution is heard within two legislative days after notice, and the chair decides then whether it qualifies.

Massie, who lost his primary to a Trump-backed rival and is leaving Congress, told Roll Call on Monday, Oct. 26, that the resolution was a "week one" lame-duck issue. "I'm not sure if I would do it the night we get back, but it would be soon after we return — if he's still in the job," he said. He gave it "better than a 50 percent chance," expecting Democrats and a few Republicans.

The charges in his Sept. 15 statement are accusations, not findings. Articles I through III say he began the Iran war with no declaration, statute, attack on the United States, or imminent threat, then continued it after H. Con. Res. 86 and past the War Powers Resolution's deadlines. Article II says both chambers passed that measure to send U.S. forces home. Later articles cite civilian casualties, strikes on suspected drug traffickers that his summary says killed at least 221 people, retaliation against Sen. Mark Kelly, the seizure of Nicolás Maduro and Cilia Flores, and Operation Rough Rider in Yemen.

"By engaging in hostilities in Iran for more than 90 days without congressional authorization, Secretary Hegseth is breaking the law and must be held accountable," Massie said. The House has not adopted the articles, and Hegseth has not been impeached.

Hegseth's answer, and the Senate's bar

Hegseth rejected the push on Thursday, Nov. 5. In a video on X he said a "disgruntled, defeated congressman, along with all his Democrat allies, has also dropped sham articles of impeachment against yours truly, just like they tried against President Trump twice." He added, "It's all about the politics of personal destruction," and, "Didn't work against President Trump, and it won't work with me." The Hill and NBC News reported the lines and named Massie.

"There is one contingency in which I won't reintroduce the articles of impeachment: Hegseth resigns," Massie wrote on Wednesday, Nov. 4, NBC News reported. On Thursday, Nov. 5, he wrote that his resolution "is a much gentler version of what's coming when Dem's control Congress."

If the new filing qualifies as a question of privilege, the speaker has up to two legislative days to schedule it, Roll Call reported. The House can vote on the articles or table them. The Senate's impeachment page says the House approves articles by a simple majority, and conviction takes two-thirds of senators present.

Roll Call noted two prior Cabinet cases. The House impeached Secretary of War William Belknap in 1876; he resigned, and the Senate acquitted him. In 2024 the House voted 214-213 to impeach Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, and the Senate set the charges aside without a trial.

No whip count is public. Massie's "better than a 50 percent" line is his Monday, Oct. 26 estimate, from before the midterms. Whether Hegseth resigns, whether enough Republicans vote yes, and whether the Senate could reach two-thirds are open.